Fetterman says he’ll work to block ‘absolutely outrageous’ US Steel sale

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) vowed Monday to work to block the $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel Corp. to Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel, which he described as an “outrageous” move.

The deal was announced Monday, prompting the stock prices of U.S. Steel to jump up 25 percent. Fetterman criticized the sale, saying in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the move was “wrong for workers and wrong for Pennsylvania.”

“I’m gonna do everything I can to block it,” Fetterman wrote on X.

“I live across the street from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thompson plant in Braddock,” Fetterman said in a statement. “It’s absolutely outrageous that U.S. Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company. Steel is always about security — both our national security and the economic security of our steel communities. I am committed to doing anything I can do, using my platform and my position, to block this foreign sale.”

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 12: U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) speaks to reporters. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

According to an October press release, U.S. Steel “supported an estimated 11,417 jobs” in Pennsylvania, including more than 3,700 directly employed by the company. The October report estimated that U.S. Steel generated $3.6 billion for the local and state economy in fiscal 2022.

Fetterman reiterated his support for the steelworkers in Pennsylvania in his statement and also posted a video taken from the roof of his house on X that shows his home directly across from the steel plant in Braddock, Pa.

“This is yet another example of hard-working Americans being blindsided by greedy corporations willing to sell out their communities to serve their shareholders. I stand with the men and women of the Steelworkers and their union way of life,” he said in his statement. 

“We cannot allow them to be screwed over or left behind. I promise to them and to all forgotten communities across Pennsylvania that I will work with [Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.)] and the rest of the delegation to fight like hell to make this right,” he continued.

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U.S. Steel said in its announcement that Nippon Steel will “honor all collective bargaining agreements with United Steelworkers Union as part of commitment to maintaining strong stakeholder relations” and that the headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Nippon Steel said that the higher demand for steel under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was one of the contributing factors in the deal.

“Energy and manufacturing industries [will] return to the U.S. under changes in the world economy structure and cheap energy in the U.S. The infrastructure bill and spending is expected to drive steel demand uptick moving forward,” the company wrote in a statement analyzing the deal.